{"id":1378,"date":"2026-06-14T19:09:49","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T13:39:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aswordsfly.com\/?p=1378"},"modified":"2026-09-25T11:16:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T05:46:27","slug":"touchstone-nominations-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aswordsfly.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/14\/touchstone-nominations-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Touchstone Nominations 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our first Touchstone Award Nominations from the &#8211; Issue 01, Spring 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:96px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">evening prayer fades<br>the dust of marigold<br>in my palms<small> <\/small><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><small>\u2014 Dr. Anish Kumar Gupta, India<\/small><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:68px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">faded marigold \u2014<br>the bride\u2019s father lingers<br>at the doorway&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><small>\u2014 Vaishnavi Ramaswamy, India<\/small><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:68px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">second day of snowfall\u2026<br>the warmth of your<br>(c)love mulled wine<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><small>\u2014 Steliana Cristina Voicu, Romania<\/small><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:69px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">balmy spring day&nbsp;<br>a toddler in the yellow hat&nbsp;<br>almost stands<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><small>\u2014 Keiko Izawa, Japan<\/small><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:72px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">summer stars<br>a pushcart vendor sells<br>his last mango&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><small>\u2014 Neha Singh Soni, India<\/small><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:73px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">lone beach stroll<br>wave after wave&nbsp;<br>of old grief<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><small>\u2014 Chen-ou Liu, Canada<\/small><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:74px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">creeping jenny<br>recalling names<br>more slowly now<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><small>\u2014 Leon Tefft,USA<\/small><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:76px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">angel\u2019s wing mushroom<br>not a flutter<br>on the ultrasound<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><small>\u2014 Adele Evershed, USA<\/small><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Nominations from the <em><strong>Issue 02 \u2013 Summer\/Monsoon 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:81px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">carpet of parijat \u2013<br>orange stems<br>of a childhood sky<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><sub>\u2014Vishal Prabhu, India<\/sub><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:49px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">shrinking lake<br>the throaty rasping<br>of a raven<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><sub>\u2014Louise Hopewell, Australia<\/sub><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:68px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">summer heat i become the mirage<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><sub>\u2014Mona Bedi, India<\/sub><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:64px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">mirror pond<br>a water strider skates<br>through the sun<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><sub>\u2014<\/sub><em><sub>Deborah Karl-Brandt, Germany<\/sub><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:62px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">rocking in sync<br>for a long evening talk<br>strawberry moon<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><sub>\u2014<\/sub><em><sub>Randy Brooks, USA<\/sub><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:56px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">mud flats<br>the uncharted geography<br>of her mastectomy<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><sub>\u2014<\/sub><em><sub>Adele Evershed, USA<\/sub><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:59px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">afterlife<br>the blues<br>in a conch<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><sub>\u2014Biswajit Mishra, Canada<\/sub><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:55px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">laundry day<br>slow-moving piles<br>of clouds<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><sub>\u2014Julie Schwerin, United States<\/sub><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:64px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">sowing rice<br>a mother sings to the child<br>on her back<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><sub>\u2014Jahnavi Gogoi, Canada<\/sub><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:56px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">beech tree canopy<br>the rain<br>that doesn\u2019t reach me<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><sub>\u2014Ruth Holzer, USA<\/sub><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our first Touchstone Award Nominations from the &#8211; Issue 01, Spring 2026 evening prayer fadesthe dust of marigoldin my palms \u2014 Dr. Anish Kumar Gupta, India faded marigold \u2014the bride\u2019s father lingersat the doorway&nbsp; \u2014 Vaishnavi Ramaswamy, India second day of snowfall\u2026the warmth of your(c)love mulled wine \u2014 Steliana Cristina Voicu, Romania balmy spring day&nbsp;a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-issues","post-preview"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ 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